CHAPPIE4: THE SUGGESTION BOX
A/N: anyone interested in being a beta-reader? (There's only so many times I can re-read a chapter before I cant tell if it makes sense or not)
A/N2: ummm.. My computer is being weird, I tried uploading the chappie a bunch of times yesterday but I don't know what happened so hopefully it really works this time.
Thank yous: ReverseVampire : Yah, I dunno if I will actually make them a couple.Severus doesn't strike me as the type of guy a girl could lust after.at least in his school years, lol. Amanda Lupin : I tried to make this chapter more detailed, but I can't seem to make it longer ( I guess I thought I'd rather just put this one out since I found a decent stopping place, otherwise it would take me even longer to update. But I hope you like the staff scene I added! Kimmy : Thanks!
***
The fifth year slytherins made their way to the Slytherin common room without much conversation. Classes in the north tower always left ones head in a fog.
As the girls passed the common room fireplace, Bellatrix admired her surroundings and thought she'd like to decorate her own home (well, manor, of course), one day in the same style.
The Slytherin Common room had a unique Gothic personality. The walls were stone, emanating a cold richness in the atmosphere. The colors in the room were all dark greens and grays and blacks. There were several bookcases filled with information on advanced potions, and *defenseagainst* the Dark Arts. Someone had managed to charm a muggle stereo system to work in the castle (Slytherins never had had any problems USING magically-enhanced muggle artifacts) and what Hufflepuffs would consider 'creepy, depressing music' was playing softly in the background, much to Bellatrix's pleasure.
The two girls strolled up the staircase to their dorm after telling the others to wait for them to get to lunch. After putting their bags away, Bellatrix and Emmeline started grooming themselves in front of a large mirror. The trick was to have flawless skin and enhance your good looks while seeming to have no more make-up on at all. After a bit they walked back down the staircase only to find that the boys had left without them.
"Typical." Emmeline said. "We were only in the dorm for about fifteen minutes. You'd think they could have waited!"
"Yes, none of them ever seem to display any manners, do they?"
They glanced at the notice board on the way out-and, startled, looked again. A new paper in the middle said:
+++++ Due to recent circumstances occurring at Hogwarts, it has been decided that fourth years and up will be required to formally join AT LEAST one club by the following month. The list is as follows: The Charms Club (mtgs. M @ 7PM in the Charms classroom) The Transfiguration Club (mtgs. W @ 6:30PM in the Transfiguration classroom) The Herbology Club (mtgs. Th @ 7PM in the Greenhouse area) The French Club (mtgs. Tu @ 8PM in the Great Hall) The Latin Club (mtgs. M @ 6:30PM in rm 203) The Chudley Cannons Club (mtgs. F @ 6PM in rm 108)
*If you would like to petition for a new club, simply fill out a request form, get at least 15 signatures of other students, drop it off at the Suggestion Box in the Great Hall, and it will be looked into. +++++
Bellatrix and Emmeline looked at each other in horror. They ran out of the empty common room to confer with the rest of their house in the Great Hall.
***
"So it's true? We really have to join a club?" Emmeline asked dejectedly.
"Yeah. Heard it was Pringle's idea. You know, so we'd have something else to concentrate on other than making his life hell."
"Damnit, that was fun!"
***
After lunch, the group walked down to their next class, Herbology. Professor Sprout told them to get out their dragon hide gloves; they would be working with bubotuber pus today. After the instructions were given, Bellatrix moved to sit with her partner, Ravenclaw Angie Russo. Emmeline shot her a mock-glare. Bellatrix had refused to partner with her once she found out how hopeless Emmeline was with plant life. Emmeline's Great Uncle Elfurt was a wood supplier for wands; and this being Hogwarts, the plants in the various Greenhouses seemed to sense her familial involvement in the destruction of wilderness.
Bellatrix started preparing the assignment, and nudged Angie to do the same. However, Angie wasn't paying attention to her, and this pissed her off. Bellatrix did not like to be ignored, however unintentional it might be. She grabbed the novel Angie was reading and shoved it under the table.
"I suppose it wouldn't have occurred to you that I was reading that, would it?" Angie said dryly. She pulled up the plant.
"What IS this?" Bellatrix said. "Merlin, you're reading a romance novel. Tell me, do they live happily ever after?"
"I don't know yet, I'm only half way through," Angie replied. "Its really good though- I'll lend it too you when I'm finished, if you want."
"Oh, please do," Bellatrix said sarcastically.
Mistaking Bellatrix's comments for sincerity, Angie excitedly gave her a description of the plot. "Oh, its so great! The heroine, Maya Green, is this brainy know-it-all student at an academy. She trips on a stairway when running to class one day and breaks her time-turner, causing her to go back in time about 20 years. There, she meets her present-day grouchy Potions professor as a student, and...well, I don't want to give it ALL away."
Too late, Bellatrix thought.
Bellatrix decided she should get back to her work.
...and was rewarded with a squirt of Bubotuber pus splashing her in the face, a detention for not paying attention, guffaws from most of the Ravenclaws (except Angie, who was not that stupid), and a trip to the hospital wing.
***
Bellatrix slammed her Divination book on the table- she could barely see through her swelled up face, but she needed something to do. She opened her Divination packet, and read the instructions for the first assignment.
+++After discovering which type of Loveline your hand has, look it up in the textbook and read the explanation. Then write a paragraph stating if you agree or disagree and why.+++
Bellatrix hated -And Why- questions.
+++ The Thinker Type Here is the hand of a person who does more thinking about relationships than acting on them. The Thinker lets logic and idealistic dreams dictate romance. She or he does not want to let the passions and feelings of the moment to take over. +++
There was more, of course, but she thought she could make-up any other bits of info she needed. That, and, the page was getting blurry.
Bellatrix wrote how she agreed, because she never let emotions control any part of her life, ever.
***
The staff room was large, with a beautiful dark blue décor and a ceiling to match the outside weather, as in the Great Hall. Many portraits were milling about impatiently; a staff meeting with the current staff at hand was always an amusing thing to witness. A huge glowing fireplace surrounded by squishy black chairs threw colorful embers barely missing Professor David Allen's head as he sat down.
David Allen sighed, he was not a people person and so staff meetings annoyed the hell out of him. He pulled some papers from his bag and began marking great big red slashes through a poor, unsuspecting Slytherin's Potions essay. "Why is it I only get dunderheads to teach each year?" He whined to himself.
"It's because you always treat them like dunderheads," Filius Flitwick quipped.
"Like I need advice from a Charms teacher," Allen said irritably. He continued back to marking up the paper.
Flitwick laughed to himself. He was used to David's surliness; it didn't affect him in the slightest. He checked his watch, noting that the staff meeting was due to start in a few minutes. With that thought, he glanced over at Donna Englestad, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, hoping to engage in some enlightening conversation, only to discover...
"Merlin's Beard, Donna, what's that you're reading?"
She glanced up from her book and said, 'Lost in Time,' by Missy James."
"..."
"Oh, its just a romance novel I confiscated from a student earlier today. It's quite good, actually. I can almost understand why that girl was reading instead of paying attention to my lesson."
"Right...so anyways-"
"By any chance, could this wait, Filius? I'm at a really exciting part right now. The heroine, Maya Green, just saved Samuel Stuart's life AGAIN and he's about to 'thank' her."
Flitwick chanced a look at the cover. A young woman with long, wavy brown hair was slapping a boy of about the same age- no, wait, now they were snogging.
"You know what? I think I'll just leave you to your reading, Donna."
She nodded and turned back to her book. (The couple on the cover had started fighting again.)
Just then Minerva McGonagall and Adrian Hunter walked into the room, deeply engrossed in conversation. "No, it just doesn't work like that. Animagi don't choose their own form- they are matched with the animal which most closely correlates with their subconscious personality."
"I heard about a potion that enabled you to choose, though."
"Yes, there was one such documented occasion in 1006 AD. However, the inventor, Jeremy Watson, got in an argument with the publisher of the book he was to print it in, and so decided not to share his findings."
"At all?"
"Not publicly. He still MADE the potion, of course. Gave samples away as party favors."
"Seriously?"
"And this was before registering was required by law- it was common for people to choose animals they could use to spy on others."
"Damnit! If only I had been born a millennia ago!"
David chipped in, "Yeah, too bad- then you wouldn't be here to bother the rest of us."
"Right."
"Anyways- oh look, Pomona and Irene are coming; maybe we can get the meeting over with."
The Divination and Herbology teachers strolled in, Erica tightly clutching Irene's arm- Irene had repeatedly tried to escape, claiming that such close proximity with the staff would cloud her inner eye.
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore called the meeting to order, and brought up the usual conundrum that goes on during a staff meeting. (Who was to patrol what corridor on which night; reminders that 'professors were there to set an example for the students- (accompanied with a meaningful glance at Adrian Hunter); and finally, Dumbledore stated they should look through the student's suggestion box.
"And by the way, I think another congratulations is in order for Apollyon, that was a great idea for the mandatory club for the students."
Apollyon Pringle looked smug. More time spent in clubs meant less time for students to make mischief.
Some polite clapping ensued, however most professors were too busy hoping they wouldn't be asked to be the supervisor of a club.
Dumbledore opened the suggestion box started pulling the forms out.
"Have you seen my cow?" he asked.
"You have a cow?" Vector asked, confused.
"Wha- no. That's what the form says."
"So they want to start a cow club?"
"No, I think a student was messing around. There aren't any signatures on the paper, anyway."
"Good, because what's the point of a cow club?"
"Well, I don't know, maybe it has some merit. Some student probably just wants to shed light on the fact that cows are seriously mistreated. Living their whole life in captivity only to be slaughtered at the end-"
"For the Love of Merlin, Donna! Not more of your 'say no to animal cruelty' campaign!"
"Just because your heart is made of stone is no excuse to turn your back on society's problems, Adrian!"
"Society's PROBLEMS? What the hell are you talking about? I hardly think that-"
"Perhaps we should move on to the next form?" Dumbledore said gently.
The group of teachers nodded, although Adrian Hunter was still glaring fiercely at Donna, and Donna was having a hard time focusing on Dumbledore's next words.
"So, lets see," Dumbledore continued. He pulled out the next form, and was relieved to find that it was a genuine one.
"Chocolate frogs trading cards club.' With all the necessary signatures! Would anyone care to take the role of supervisor?" He asked. Meaning: 'who will volunteer before I pick the least likely one who'd actually want to do it?'
The professors started studying their nails or stared at the ceiling at this point, not wanting to call attention to them. Finally, Dumbledore relented. "Well, we'll just leave the supervisor positions till we've finished going through the rest of the forms."
The professors breathed a collective sigh of relief. Dumbledore smiled mischievously. He was headmaster, he didn't have to head a club. Thank Merlin!
He pulled the next form out of the box and read, "Karaoke club.' Well, that sounds like a nice club- anyone know what karaoke is?"
Dumbledore loved muggles, sure, but his extent of knowledge about their culture did not go much further than their sweets.
"Oh oh oh! Karaoke! It's so much fun! It's great! We should absolutely have this club!" Sprout exclaimed.
"Ok...But what IS it?"
"Well, it's a muggle sing-a-long machine." As soon as she said machine, she winced. Electricity and Hogwarts did not mix.
"Well, maybe we can figure out a way around that," Flitwick said genially. "I'm sure there are spells that could enhance the karaoke...thing."
"Of course," Dumbledore agreed. "We wont let the fact that it's a muggle object get in the way of club righteousness! Right then...next one. Victoria, would you care to do the honors?"
Victoria Vector grimaced but plucked a form anyway. "Fire the Potions Professor.' And look, they've even got all the signatures required!"
An abundance of coughing suddenly erupted, but Dumbledore wasn't fooled. Even David looked like he agreed with the form. Quickly, he got Victoria to grab another paper. She had a bit of trouble reading it out though, she was grinning so widely.
"Marauder's Fan Club." Victoria looked up, everyone had puzzled looks on their faces, except for David Allen, who was scowling.
"Let me guess- its written in cute little girly handwriting, and the I's are probably dotted with hearts," David said sarcastically.
"Marauders? Are they some boy band we haven't heard about?" Flitwick asked.
"Maybe there is a summary of the clubs doings on the back of the paper, Victoria?" Dumbledore asked.
Victoria looked, and said, "Well, it just kind of rambles on about how cute the marauders are, and how they deserve more recognition and stuff- it doesn't say who they actually are."
"Well, does it have the signatures?"
"Merlin! It must have at least fifty. And they all seem to be girls...wait, no, I see a few guys names on here..."
Donna grabbed the slip of paper and said, "Oh, here's something you missed, Vicky. It says in the right hand corner 'to please not make this a widely known club."
"I don't see why not- I suppose they think the fifty plus members is enough and don't want to create any jealousy by not allowing any more people in. As long as a teacher supervises the meetings it should be fine," Dumbledore said.
"Ok then- next one," Victoria said.
'Gobstones club." She passed it to Dumbledore. Then she resumed, looking for the good ones.
"Less homework.' Very unoriginal, I'm afraid. Oh, here's one! 'The Food Appreciation Club.' I suppose that means they want to raid the kitchens every week."
"Well, at least they have good taste! Get it, TASTE! Hahahhahahahahheeheeheehahaha!"
The faculty stared at Adrian Hunter. Finally, he calmed down. "I personally volunteer to supervise this club," he exclaimed.
The rest of the teachers cursed under their breaths. They'd forgotten that part.
Dumbledore, however, gave a huge smile and wrote down his name on the club's sheet of paper. "And that brings us back to the supervisor positions of each club. I'm sure there will be more forms next week, but for now we can decide with the ones we have here."
He read out the list of acceptable clubs they had accumulated so far. " Chocolate Frogs Trading Cards Club; Karaoke Club; Fire- oops, no, I mean, Marauder's Fan Club; Gobstones Club; and Food Appreciation Club.
"Adrian has so kindly volunteered to supervise Food Appreciation; but do we have any other volunteers for the others?"
Pomona Sprout decided she was a good candidate for the Karaoke Club, Flitwick volunteered (albeit reluctantly) for the Chocolate Cards Club, and Victoria Vector decided to go for the Gobstones Club, since she taught Arithmancy and the club involved adding.
Which left the Marauder's Fan Club.
Dumbledore looked from face to face, but none would meet his eye, even those who had just volunteered for another club. "Donna?" He asked gently.
She looked up guiltily. Unfortunately for her, she just couldn't put her romance novel down(Maya , had been sneaking glances under the table where her book lay, and so hadn't been listening till her name was called.
"Oh, ok, sure," She said with a smile.
Dumbledore grinned, and the tension was let up in the room. "That's it for tonight, everyone. You can go."
They shot out of the room.
"Hey, Vicky, what did I just agree to during the meeting?" Donna Englestad asked.
Victoria rolled her eyes.
***
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Sorry about the long delay, everyone. Shit happens, and it happened to me, so I'd only gotten around to writing a page every week or so at one in the morning or whenever I got such an urge. I'll try to do better next time.
Be a dear and review!
A/N: anyone interested in being a beta-reader? (There's only so many times I can re-read a chapter before I cant tell if it makes sense or not)
A/N2: ummm.. My computer is being weird, I tried uploading the chappie a bunch of times yesterday but I don't know what happened so hopefully it really works this time.
Thank yous: ReverseVampire : Yah, I dunno if I will actually make them a couple.Severus doesn't strike me as the type of guy a girl could lust after.at least in his school years, lol. Amanda Lupin : I tried to make this chapter more detailed, but I can't seem to make it longer ( I guess I thought I'd rather just put this one out since I found a decent stopping place, otherwise it would take me even longer to update. But I hope you like the staff scene I added! Kimmy : Thanks!
***
The fifth year slytherins made their way to the Slytherin common room without much conversation. Classes in the north tower always left ones head in a fog.
As the girls passed the common room fireplace, Bellatrix admired her surroundings and thought she'd like to decorate her own home (well, manor, of course), one day in the same style.
The Slytherin Common room had a unique Gothic personality. The walls were stone, emanating a cold richness in the atmosphere. The colors in the room were all dark greens and grays and blacks. There were several bookcases filled with information on advanced potions, and *defenseagainst* the Dark Arts. Someone had managed to charm a muggle stereo system to work in the castle (Slytherins never had had any problems USING magically-enhanced muggle artifacts) and what Hufflepuffs would consider 'creepy, depressing music' was playing softly in the background, much to Bellatrix's pleasure.
The two girls strolled up the staircase to their dorm after telling the others to wait for them to get to lunch. After putting their bags away, Bellatrix and Emmeline started grooming themselves in front of a large mirror. The trick was to have flawless skin and enhance your good looks while seeming to have no more make-up on at all. After a bit they walked back down the staircase only to find that the boys had left without them.
"Typical." Emmeline said. "We were only in the dorm for about fifteen minutes. You'd think they could have waited!"
"Yes, none of them ever seem to display any manners, do they?"
They glanced at the notice board on the way out-and, startled, looked again. A new paper in the middle said:
+++++ Due to recent circumstances occurring at Hogwarts, it has been decided that fourth years and up will be required to formally join AT LEAST one club by the following month. The list is as follows: The Charms Club (mtgs. M @ 7PM in the Charms classroom) The Transfiguration Club (mtgs. W @ 6:30PM in the Transfiguration classroom) The Herbology Club (mtgs. Th @ 7PM in the Greenhouse area) The French Club (mtgs. Tu @ 8PM in the Great Hall) The Latin Club (mtgs. M @ 6:30PM in rm 203) The Chudley Cannons Club (mtgs. F @ 6PM in rm 108)
*If you would like to petition for a new club, simply fill out a request form, get at least 15 signatures of other students, drop it off at the Suggestion Box in the Great Hall, and it will be looked into. +++++
Bellatrix and Emmeline looked at each other in horror. They ran out of the empty common room to confer with the rest of their house in the Great Hall.
***
"So it's true? We really have to join a club?" Emmeline asked dejectedly.
"Yeah. Heard it was Pringle's idea. You know, so we'd have something else to concentrate on other than making his life hell."
"Damnit, that was fun!"
***
After lunch, the group walked down to their next class, Herbology. Professor Sprout told them to get out their dragon hide gloves; they would be working with bubotuber pus today. After the instructions were given, Bellatrix moved to sit with her partner, Ravenclaw Angie Russo. Emmeline shot her a mock-glare. Bellatrix had refused to partner with her once she found out how hopeless Emmeline was with plant life. Emmeline's Great Uncle Elfurt was a wood supplier for wands; and this being Hogwarts, the plants in the various Greenhouses seemed to sense her familial involvement in the destruction of wilderness.
Bellatrix started preparing the assignment, and nudged Angie to do the same. However, Angie wasn't paying attention to her, and this pissed her off. Bellatrix did not like to be ignored, however unintentional it might be. She grabbed the novel Angie was reading and shoved it under the table.
"I suppose it wouldn't have occurred to you that I was reading that, would it?" Angie said dryly. She pulled up the plant.
"What IS this?" Bellatrix said. "Merlin, you're reading a romance novel. Tell me, do they live happily ever after?"
"I don't know yet, I'm only half way through," Angie replied. "Its really good though- I'll lend it too you when I'm finished, if you want."
"Oh, please do," Bellatrix said sarcastically.
Mistaking Bellatrix's comments for sincerity, Angie excitedly gave her a description of the plot. "Oh, its so great! The heroine, Maya Green, is this brainy know-it-all student at an academy. She trips on a stairway when running to class one day and breaks her time-turner, causing her to go back in time about 20 years. There, she meets her present-day grouchy Potions professor as a student, and...well, I don't want to give it ALL away."
Too late, Bellatrix thought.
Bellatrix decided she should get back to her work.
...and was rewarded with a squirt of Bubotuber pus splashing her in the face, a detention for not paying attention, guffaws from most of the Ravenclaws (except Angie, who was not that stupid), and a trip to the hospital wing.
***
Bellatrix slammed her Divination book on the table- she could barely see through her swelled up face, but she needed something to do. She opened her Divination packet, and read the instructions for the first assignment.
+++After discovering which type of Loveline your hand has, look it up in the textbook and read the explanation. Then write a paragraph stating if you agree or disagree and why.+++
Bellatrix hated -And Why- questions.
+++ The Thinker Type Here is the hand of a person who does more thinking about relationships than acting on them. The Thinker lets logic and idealistic dreams dictate romance. She or he does not want to let the passions and feelings of the moment to take over. +++
There was more, of course, but she thought she could make-up any other bits of info she needed. That, and, the page was getting blurry.
Bellatrix wrote how she agreed, because she never let emotions control any part of her life, ever.
***
The staff room was large, with a beautiful dark blue décor and a ceiling to match the outside weather, as in the Great Hall. Many portraits were milling about impatiently; a staff meeting with the current staff at hand was always an amusing thing to witness. A huge glowing fireplace surrounded by squishy black chairs threw colorful embers barely missing Professor David Allen's head as he sat down.
David Allen sighed, he was not a people person and so staff meetings annoyed the hell out of him. He pulled some papers from his bag and began marking great big red slashes through a poor, unsuspecting Slytherin's Potions essay. "Why is it I only get dunderheads to teach each year?" He whined to himself.
"It's because you always treat them like dunderheads," Filius Flitwick quipped.
"Like I need advice from a Charms teacher," Allen said irritably. He continued back to marking up the paper.
Flitwick laughed to himself. He was used to David's surliness; it didn't affect him in the slightest. He checked his watch, noting that the staff meeting was due to start in a few minutes. With that thought, he glanced over at Donna Englestad, the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, hoping to engage in some enlightening conversation, only to discover...
"Merlin's Beard, Donna, what's that you're reading?"
She glanced up from her book and said, 'Lost in Time,' by Missy James."
"..."
"Oh, its just a romance novel I confiscated from a student earlier today. It's quite good, actually. I can almost understand why that girl was reading instead of paying attention to my lesson."
"Right...so anyways-"
"By any chance, could this wait, Filius? I'm at a really exciting part right now. The heroine, Maya Green, just saved Samuel Stuart's life AGAIN and he's about to 'thank' her."
Flitwick chanced a look at the cover. A young woman with long, wavy brown hair was slapping a boy of about the same age- no, wait, now they were snogging.
"You know what? I think I'll just leave you to your reading, Donna."
She nodded and turned back to her book. (The couple on the cover had started fighting again.)
Just then Minerva McGonagall and Adrian Hunter walked into the room, deeply engrossed in conversation. "No, it just doesn't work like that. Animagi don't choose their own form- they are matched with the animal which most closely correlates with their subconscious personality."
"I heard about a potion that enabled you to choose, though."
"Yes, there was one such documented occasion in 1006 AD. However, the inventor, Jeremy Watson, got in an argument with the publisher of the book he was to print it in, and so decided not to share his findings."
"At all?"
"Not publicly. He still MADE the potion, of course. Gave samples away as party favors."
"Seriously?"
"And this was before registering was required by law- it was common for people to choose animals they could use to spy on others."
"Damnit! If only I had been born a millennia ago!"
David chipped in, "Yeah, too bad- then you wouldn't be here to bother the rest of us."
"Right."
"Anyways- oh look, Pomona and Irene are coming; maybe we can get the meeting over with."
The Divination and Herbology teachers strolled in, Erica tightly clutching Irene's arm- Irene had repeatedly tried to escape, claiming that such close proximity with the staff would cloud her inner eye.
When everyone was seated, Dumbledore called the meeting to order, and brought up the usual conundrum that goes on during a staff meeting. (Who was to patrol what corridor on which night; reminders that 'professors were there to set an example for the students- (accompanied with a meaningful glance at Adrian Hunter); and finally, Dumbledore stated they should look through the student's suggestion box.
"And by the way, I think another congratulations is in order for Apollyon, that was a great idea for the mandatory club for the students."
Apollyon Pringle looked smug. More time spent in clubs meant less time for students to make mischief.
Some polite clapping ensued, however most professors were too busy hoping they wouldn't be asked to be the supervisor of a club.
Dumbledore opened the suggestion box started pulling the forms out.
"Have you seen my cow?" he asked.
"You have a cow?" Vector asked, confused.
"Wha- no. That's what the form says."
"So they want to start a cow club?"
"No, I think a student was messing around. There aren't any signatures on the paper, anyway."
"Good, because what's the point of a cow club?"
"Well, I don't know, maybe it has some merit. Some student probably just wants to shed light on the fact that cows are seriously mistreated. Living their whole life in captivity only to be slaughtered at the end-"
"For the Love of Merlin, Donna! Not more of your 'say no to animal cruelty' campaign!"
"Just because your heart is made of stone is no excuse to turn your back on society's problems, Adrian!"
"Society's PROBLEMS? What the hell are you talking about? I hardly think that-"
"Perhaps we should move on to the next form?" Dumbledore said gently.
The group of teachers nodded, although Adrian Hunter was still glaring fiercely at Donna, and Donna was having a hard time focusing on Dumbledore's next words.
"So, lets see," Dumbledore continued. He pulled out the next form, and was relieved to find that it was a genuine one.
"Chocolate frogs trading cards club.' With all the necessary signatures! Would anyone care to take the role of supervisor?" He asked. Meaning: 'who will volunteer before I pick the least likely one who'd actually want to do it?'
The professors started studying their nails or stared at the ceiling at this point, not wanting to call attention to them. Finally, Dumbledore relented. "Well, we'll just leave the supervisor positions till we've finished going through the rest of the forms."
The professors breathed a collective sigh of relief. Dumbledore smiled mischievously. He was headmaster, he didn't have to head a club. Thank Merlin!
He pulled the next form out of the box and read, "Karaoke club.' Well, that sounds like a nice club- anyone know what karaoke is?"
Dumbledore loved muggles, sure, but his extent of knowledge about their culture did not go much further than their sweets.
"Oh oh oh! Karaoke! It's so much fun! It's great! We should absolutely have this club!" Sprout exclaimed.
"Ok...But what IS it?"
"Well, it's a muggle sing-a-long machine." As soon as she said machine, she winced. Electricity and Hogwarts did not mix.
"Well, maybe we can figure out a way around that," Flitwick said genially. "I'm sure there are spells that could enhance the karaoke...thing."
"Of course," Dumbledore agreed. "We wont let the fact that it's a muggle object get in the way of club righteousness! Right then...next one. Victoria, would you care to do the honors?"
Victoria Vector grimaced but plucked a form anyway. "Fire the Potions Professor.' And look, they've even got all the signatures required!"
An abundance of coughing suddenly erupted, but Dumbledore wasn't fooled. Even David looked like he agreed with the form. Quickly, he got Victoria to grab another paper. She had a bit of trouble reading it out though, she was grinning so widely.
"Marauder's Fan Club." Victoria looked up, everyone had puzzled looks on their faces, except for David Allen, who was scowling.
"Let me guess- its written in cute little girly handwriting, and the I's are probably dotted with hearts," David said sarcastically.
"Marauders? Are they some boy band we haven't heard about?" Flitwick asked.
"Maybe there is a summary of the clubs doings on the back of the paper, Victoria?" Dumbledore asked.
Victoria looked, and said, "Well, it just kind of rambles on about how cute the marauders are, and how they deserve more recognition and stuff- it doesn't say who they actually are."
"Well, does it have the signatures?"
"Merlin! It must have at least fifty. And they all seem to be girls...wait, no, I see a few guys names on here..."
Donna grabbed the slip of paper and said, "Oh, here's something you missed, Vicky. It says in the right hand corner 'to please not make this a widely known club."
"I don't see why not- I suppose they think the fifty plus members is enough and don't want to create any jealousy by not allowing any more people in. As long as a teacher supervises the meetings it should be fine," Dumbledore said.
"Ok then- next one," Victoria said.
'Gobstones club." She passed it to Dumbledore. Then she resumed, looking for the good ones.
"Less homework.' Very unoriginal, I'm afraid. Oh, here's one! 'The Food Appreciation Club.' I suppose that means they want to raid the kitchens every week."
"Well, at least they have good taste! Get it, TASTE! Hahahhahahahahheeheeheehahaha!"
The faculty stared at Adrian Hunter. Finally, he calmed down. "I personally volunteer to supervise this club," he exclaimed.
The rest of the teachers cursed under their breaths. They'd forgotten that part.
Dumbledore, however, gave a huge smile and wrote down his name on the club's sheet of paper. "And that brings us back to the supervisor positions of each club. I'm sure there will be more forms next week, but for now we can decide with the ones we have here."
He read out the list of acceptable clubs they had accumulated so far. " Chocolate Frogs Trading Cards Club; Karaoke Club; Fire- oops, no, I mean, Marauder's Fan Club; Gobstones Club; and Food Appreciation Club.
"Adrian has so kindly volunteered to supervise Food Appreciation; but do we have any other volunteers for the others?"
Pomona Sprout decided she was a good candidate for the Karaoke Club, Flitwick volunteered (albeit reluctantly) for the Chocolate Cards Club, and Victoria Vector decided to go for the Gobstones Club, since she taught Arithmancy and the club involved adding.
Which left the Marauder's Fan Club.
Dumbledore looked from face to face, but none would meet his eye, even those who had just volunteered for another club. "Donna?" He asked gently.
She looked up guiltily. Unfortunately for her, she just couldn't put her romance novel down(Maya , had been sneaking glances under the table where her book lay, and so hadn't been listening till her name was called.
"Oh, ok, sure," She said with a smile.
Dumbledore grinned, and the tension was let up in the room. "That's it for tonight, everyone. You can go."
They shot out of the room.
"Hey, Vicky, what did I just agree to during the meeting?" Donna Englestad asked.
Victoria rolled her eyes.
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Sorry about the long delay, everyone. Shit happens, and it happened to me, so I'd only gotten around to writing a page every week or so at one in the morning or whenever I got such an urge. I'll try to do better next time.
Be a dear and review!